CFI Practical Pass/Fail Rates
 

Due to the responses I am getting on some other threads I started, I am starting to wonder about the failure rate on the CFI practical test. Some are saying the failure rate is as high as 75%!
-Is this true!?
-What is the main reason for failure?
-What if you do fail- what then- how soon can you retest, or, more importantly, how long can you wait before you gotta do the whole mess all over?
-What goes "on your record"?
Thanks in advance!

Out here we take our CFI check ride with someone out of the FSDO in Oklahoma City. I've heard that it is an extremely tough and demanding check ride but I don't know how many people bust it.

Depends on where you are. I did my ride with our POI the month he retired. It was easily the hardest ride I've had, but it was fair and he wanted to make sure I'd be a good instructor.

Passing the oral is a matter of knowing the information and communicating it. So know your crap. Same is true in the plane. You have to fly like a Commercial pilot and talk your way through each maneuver to prove you can teach it.

If you get the pink slip, you'll set up the date for the recheck just like any other bust. How long is a function of aircraft and examiner availability.

If you fail, they will note it. But failing the CFI (or any ride) once is better than failing 2 or 3 times on a lower rating. Every pilot knows the CFI is one of the hardest rides you'll ever have.

But do hiring personnel at major airlines know that?

CFI-initial failure rate
 

Atlanta FSDO has a reputation for failing 88% the first time around on the CFI initial. I have heard this figure repeatedly over the years from people who took it here. I personally knew a few who passed the first time around, and they were what I would call exceptional. To date I have never seen any proof, so it amounts to hearsay. There is no by FSDO breakdown of pass/fail rates on the FAA website. I wrote to the FAA by email a few months back and asked for a breakdown and got no reply. As a rumor, it rings true with what you hear about FSDOs by and large except a little worse. You can access overall pass/fail rates for CFI initials on the FAA website but it stops short of breakdown by FSDO or differentiating between first try and pink slip certificates. I suspect they do not want the public to know what it is despite keeping tabs on it.

I would have gone for my CFI over a year ago if not for the failure rate around here discouraging it and due to workload I have not had the time to devote to it. Don't want my first pink slip after all my other successful checkrides.

Also, the Atlanta AllATPs location sends all its initials to Florida.

Don't know what the failure rate is (have heard about 70% for initials), but all 4 people in my class recommended for the CFI practical all passed on their first try (myself included). That probably also has to do with the quality instruction we received, but I also believe it was because we all hit the books. Honestly, practice teaching as much as you can before getting your CFI (in the presence of another CFI of course) to help develop your teaching skills.

Good luck!

Yes everybody in aviation knows about it. The initial CFI pass rate varies with geographic area and whether the local FSDO outsources the rides to DPEs (some do, some don't and it changes on a regular basis).

Assume an average 50% fail rate for your initial, maybe a little better for add-on instructor ratings.

i've heard rumors but no official word that the detroit FSDO has a 80% fail rate. the instructor i'm working with says they decide if you pass before you get there to fill there quota for failures. i don't know if this is true but the ride is tough. my instructor said if you fail, they will reschedule you for 3-4 days. this isn't enough time to learn all of the stuff you failed on and they know that. they just can't pass everyone. i'm working on my initial cfi now and its hard not to get discouraged by this info. i figure if i study hard and know as much as i can i at least gave it my best shot. hey, at least with the FSDO they don't charge you to take 'em.

I had a friend who was a flight instructor out of Pontiac MI. He mentioned to me the examiners there would fail people on Commercial checkrides for the slightest little flaw in chandelles, lazy eights, or eights on pylons. I assume they would use the Detroit examiners.

I've signed off five people so far for CFI checkrides. All passed. One was with a DE and the others were with the Feds themselves. I know of one DE in my area who does a one hour CFI oral and about a one hour flight for the checkride. Another has orals that last six to eight hours(including a break or two). So there's even variability in the same region. As far as reasons why people fail, the six to eight hour oral DE failed a guy three times. First he didn't have an 8710 form :eek:, second because he didn't have a clue how to teach(that was the pink slip), and third because he descended 3000 feet down to 500AGL during a simulated engine failure, looking for the checklist he lost, and doing absolutely nothing else. The guy didn't know what he was doing, how is he supposed to teach someone else? Not all of the failures in whatever statistics you see are due to FAA cruelty against people on checkrides. Some people just shouldn't be there.

My students have said that some of the best experience they got prior to the checkride was when I gave them my one of my problem students to practice an hour or two of extra ground instruction with. None of it was logged or paid for. I'll eavesdrop while I do paperwork nearby, to correct the "instructor" if necessary, and also so I can debrief with him/her later. The student gets a little extra free ground training(under my supervision), and the student CFI gets practice teaching a real student (instead of me playing dumb). I don't charge either of them for it. Another CFI told me one of the best experiences he got was taking his grandmother up for a flight and teaching her how to fly and even land the plane. Teach your friends and relatives for fun and practice. Explain to them why you need them to help, and that you want honest feedback on your teaching techniques to help ensure your success later on. Become an instructor before you even take the checkride.

Rather than thinking about this in terms of whether or not you'll fail, think of it in terms of whether or not you'll be any good at the job you're applying for. The goal is to be a good instructor, not just to pass a checkride. Focus on the bigger picture, and you're more likely to pass. What are your plans after you pass the checkride? Do you even really want to teach, or are you just doing it because you don't have any other options? An FAA examiner told me that he makes checkrides harder on people who act like they don't take pride in what they're doing, or care about the quality of their instruction. They can smell it on these people. The FAA's goal is to populate the aviation world with quality instructors who will teach new pilots good airmanship, good procedures, and safety. Not everyone is cut out for it. Of course if the examiners are just out to meet their quota of failures, then none of what I wrote may matter, but if they can at least see that you care about what you're doing, they might give you a chance.

I believe there is a 90% failure rate on the first attempt. A local DPE might be more lenient and have a higher pass rate though.